I am spending way too much time on club business. My beloved (yes, he’s home until Wednesday afternoon) cannot believe that I have spent all day at my desk while the sun has been shining. But I need to get as much as possible up to date before my departure and then hand everything over to the Treasurer. I have made copious notes and lots of annotated examples to help her otherwise I’m afraid she might just decide it’s all too much and throw in the towel. Strictly speaking, as we’re in France, she would throw in the sponge. But I want no throwing of towels, sponges or any other missiles.

Friday afternoon we took the much anticipated decision to run next year’s Kivilev as both a randonnee and sportif. I have been put in charge of marketing, which includes production of the brochure. This is already well in hand and I’ll be working on it while I’m flying to and from on Oz. Well there’s only so many films you can watch and it’s an awfully long time to be airborne, even in Club class.

The club had a magnificent turn out for yesterday’s pointage which included a climb up Mont Chauve. I did this for the first time last year and was disappointed not to have done the race as no other women had taken part. But there were two this year, so I’d have been 3rd. However, I decided not to contest the sprint and plodded away at my own pace. Amazingly, I overtook a number of riders who had probably set off too quickly and were beginning to flag in the final kilometers. However, the climb seemed much more difficult than I remembered and I suffered like a dog all the way up. Maybe it was the weather which was humid and overcast, ruining the normally panoramic view of Nice.

Still, it was all worthwhile as we won the pointage, which was hosted by the largest Nicois club, beating into second place the 2nd largest club mainly because a number of their riders had forgotten their licences and therefore they didn’t qualify for the bonifications. As usual, ladies only made up 5% of the 395 participants. Contrast this turn-out with our own event which was held in August. We had over 560.